School Captain Advent Start of Term Speech

Below speech was written and spoken by School Captain Nana-Yaw during an 11am whole school assembly in the Quad on Tuesday 6 September, 2022

Good morning

First and foremost, I want to say welcome back and I hope you have all enjoyed a restful, enjoyable, and fun summer holiday. As you may know, my name is Nana-Yaw, and I am your School Captain for this year. I hope that I can help make the transition back into school life seamless and ensure everyone has as good of an experience as possible within our community. I’m going to go on a little bit of a tangent here, but just bear with me..

I’m going into my 7th and last year at Alleyn’s and in that time you start to notice certain traits that are shared between, not only the students here, but the staff (and everyone you encounter essentially) and I want to focus on 2 of them, self-improvement, and sociability.

Everyone you talk to carries themselves with some sort of purpose, they have an energy that they have a goal they’re working towards, both on a day-to-day basis and long-term. You can feel everyone around you pushing their limits and it makes you want to do the same. It makes you want to be a be a better version of yourself.

But the line between that sense of drive and the vice of over-competitiveness, especially as we grow through the years, is toed using our shared attribute of sociability. The warmth and friendliness you feel talking to any one in Alleyn's, regardless of age or any differing factors, prevents us from letting our compulsion to improve end up with us putting others down.

In fact, I think it brings us closer together. As someone who doesn’t look like most of the people in this audience, the fact I have felt such a sense of community over these years, is a testament to our friendliness.

To close, I want to ask a question to you guys.

How will you have changed by the end of this school year? 

Seeing Matilda’s start of term speech last year was what inspired me to want to become school captain. It made me realise that if I wanted to see change, I would have to be in a position to make it. But I don’t believe I would’ve ever gotten to this position without the qualities that being at Alleyn's instilled in me.

So I’ll ask again, slightly differently,

How will you use the privilege of going to a school like this to change yourself and the world around you this year?

Have a great rest of your day and enjoy this year ahead to the fullest!